Looking to pick up their first away win of the 2022-23 campaign, Rio Ave take on Benfica at the Estadio do Sport Lisboa e Benfica in round nine of Primeira Liga on Saturday.
The home side, who have enjoyed a stellar start to the season, head into the weekend unbeaten in 21 consecutive outings across all competitions and will look to continue in the same vein.
Match preview
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Benfica saw their 100% record in the Champions League come to an end on Wednesday as they could only salvage a 1-1 draw with French heavyweight Paris Saint-Germain on their home turf.
Lionel Messi set the Ligue 1 side on their way to a third consecutive victory with a stunning curler in the 22nd minute but an own goal from Portugal international Danilo Pereira saw the hosts crawl back into the game to force a share of the spoils.
Prior to that, As Aguias picked up two wins from their opening two Champions League games as they claimed a 2-0 victory over Maccabi Haifa on September 6 before journeying to the Allianz Arena to see off Juventus 2-1 eight days later.
Benfica now turn their attention to Primeira Liga where they were held to a somewhat disappointing goalless draw by Vitoria de Guimaraes last Saturday which saw their eight-game winning streak come to an end.
Roger Schmidt's men, who are the only side yet to taste defeat in the league this season, have picked up 22 points from their opening eight games to sit top of the league standings, with a three-point cushion over second-placed Braga.
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Rio Ave, on the other hand, have continued to pick up positive results since their return to the top flight as they claimed a hard-earned 1-0 victory over 10-man Santa Clara when the sides met last weekend.
In a thrilling contest at the Estadio dos Arcos, Ghanian striker Emmanuel Boateng netted the only goal of the game in the 15th minute to hand the hosts their first win over Mario Silva's side in five meetings.
The Vilacondenses are now unbeaten in five of their most recent six league outings, claiming two wins and three draws — with a 3-2 defeat at the hands of Braga on September 11 being the exception.
While Rio Ave will be looking to pick up successive victories for the first time since May, they have struggled for results on the road, where they are without a win in their four games this season, claiming three draws and losing once.
Luis Freire's side, who secured their return to the Portuguese top flight courtesy of a first-placed finish in last season's Segunda Liga, have picked up two wins, three draws and lost two of their eight games so far to collect nine points and sit 10th in the league table.
Next up for Rio Ave is the stern challenge of taking on a rampant Benfica side who are unbeaten in each of the last nine meetings between the teams and have picked up 17 wins from their previous 20 encounters since May 2010.
Team News
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Benfica remain without Brazilian defender Lucas Verissimo, who is yet to make an appearance this year after sustaining an ACL injury last November.
Fellow countryman Felipe Morato is also out of contention for this weekend's matchup as he continues his spell on the sidelines through an ankle problem.
Off the back of a solid display against Paris Saint-Germain, Schmidt could name an unchanged XI on Saturday, meaning that we could see an attacking quartet of David Neres, Rafa Silva, Joao Mario and Goncalo Ramos, with Antonio Silva and Nicolas Otamendi pairing at the heart of the defence.
Meanwhile, Boateng is a doubt for Rio Ave after the Ghanaian was forced off with a 56th-minute injury against Santa Clara last weekend.
Should he fail to shake off the issue in time for the game, 21-year-old Fabio Ronaldo could come in for his sixth league start of the season, teaming up with Aziz in the two-man front line.
Benfica possible starting lineup:
Vlachodimos; Bah, Silva, Otamendi, Grimaldo; Luis, Fernandez, Neres, Mario, Silva; Ramos
Rio Ave possible starting lineup:
Jhonatan; Santos, Sa, William; Costinha, Graca, Baeza, Samaris, Amaral; Aziz, Ronaldo
We say: Benfica 3-1 Rio Ave
While Rio Ave will be looking to build on their victory over Santa Clara, they go up against a Benfica side who are unbeaten in their last 21 games across all competitions. We predict that Benfica will take the positives from their draw with Paris Saint-Germain to claim a comfortable win on Saturday.
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